How to backup and restore Launchpad?

Question

How to backup and restore Launchpad?

I know this question has been asked previously, but hasn't been answered yet.

Is there a way to backup and restore the Launchpad?

With every major (annual) update, I face this issue. I have a baseline dual booting MacBook Pro with only 60 GB allocated for macOS. I usually have around 10 GB free space for the macOS partition, which is insufficient for the upgrade. So I do a full Time Machine backup before the upgrade, do a clean install of the new macOS, and then use the Migration Assistant to restore the TM backup.

With this process, the only hassle I face is to uninstall the cloud services (Google Drive and OneDrive) and reinstall (and re-sync) them. This is okay because it happens in the background. But the Launchpad is something that is completely reset. Creating all the folders and organizing the apps is a pain.

Is there a way to restore the Launchpad from a TM backup?

THANKS.

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 12.0

Posted on Nov 9, 2021 1:06 AM

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Answer 1

Nov 9, 2021 7:10 AM in response to Sridhar Ananthanarayanan

Sridhar Ananthanarayanan wrote:

I know this question has been asked previously, but hasn't been answered yet.

Is there a way to backup and restore the Launchpad?

With every major (annual) update, I face this issue. I have a baseline dual booting MacBook Pro with only 60 GB allocated for macOS. I usually have around 10 GB free space for the macOS partition, which is insufficient for the upgrade. So I do a full Time Machine backup before the upgrade, do a clean install of the new macOS, and then use the Migration Assistant to restore the TM backup.

With this process, the only hassle I face is to uninstall the cloud services (Google Drive and OneDrive) and reinstall (and re-sync) them. This is okay because it happens in the background. But the Launchpad is something that is completely reset. Creating all the folders and organizing the apps is a pain.

Is there a way to restore the Launchpad from a TM backup?

THANKS.

?

Launch Pad is direct reflection of your Applications folder. You can restore Applications from a TM backup.

restore items backed up with Time Machine

https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/restore-files-mh11422/mac

To restore all apple stock/system applications on the first launchpad page in the default order.

On the second, third etc. page all the other apps will be arranged alphabetically.

from the Terminal.app copy&paste:

defaults write com.apple.dock ResetLaunchPad -bool true; killall Dock

Terminal User Guide for Mac - Apple Support

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Answer 2

Nov 9, 2021 8:35 AM in response to leroydouglas

Hello Leroy,

Thanks for responding.

I think you haven’t understood my question properly.

I haven’t lost any apps/ data/ files. I had organised my Launchpad by creating folders and putting apps into the appropriate folders, as I wanted. Everything was organised in just one page.

Now, all folders are gone. The Launchpad is now 5 or 6 pages long and I will have to redo the organisation.

Is there a way to avoid redoing it going forward? I would like to backup the Launchpad layout so that it can be restored in future, if necessary so that the whole exercise of redoing it can be avoided.

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How to backup and restore Launchpad?

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